Quarantine

[Nolly]

I understand that you should quarantine a new chicken to the flock, but what if you're getting from someone that you know that has a small flock?
My sister has a couple of chickens too many for her coop and offered to pass 1 or 2 off instead of having to cull them. They're a few months old and appear disease free.
With that in mind, is there a reason to hold them separate? If they turn out to be carriers of some disease, will 30 days quarantine change the outcome?
I just had the thought that it's understandable to quarantine when you don't know the source that well and they probably can't track the health of each chicken so closely.

 

[Den in Penn]

To quarantine from a source you don't know or unsure of, is a good idea. A proper quarantine has also has a feature that most don't do. Putting a bird from the flock it is going to, to see if they or the new chickens get sick. So a proper quarantine of thirty days is worth it. But does it change the out come? Yes if it catches a problem before the whole flock is inffected. That said, if you know the source and don't mind accepting the risk, it is you choice. With your sisters flock in a way you may have already broken quarantine. By visiting her and her flock then gone home and walking with yours. I would think the risk in your case is slight. Beside do you have the room to do a good quarantine?

 

[Mrs. K]

I belong to another site, also. Those people make my blood run cold, as they go to swap meets and auctions, regularly. In that situation, where as you have stressed your birds by taking them out of their own territory, caged them next to strange birds, and had people walking back and forth from one would assume other poultry places. To me the chance of even a perfectly healthy bird when it left the home place, picking up some new disease and bringing it home to your own flock are VERY possible.

Howeverr, if one is getting chickens from a person, whose place you have seen, whose birds have heatlthy look and actions, and one it making a scoop them up, travel a liitle bit, and put them back in a set up, I would not bother quarantining. I am taking a risk, but in my opinion, not near the risk described in the scenario above. Could there be a wreck, yes, is it highly probable, I don't think so.

I would take at least 2 hens, and better yet , 3-4,makes integration much easier. Very difficult to add a single bird to an established flock.

 

[Onyx Otter]

Most people do not have enough space to properly quarantine. You would have to follow strict bio-security to make it worth it.

 

[btguy]

im not really supposed to have birds at my house so i use my house as a quarantine/grow out and the flock is at my mothers house. i have chicks coming in next month and ai has made me nervous enough that im getting everything at my mothers situated to where she can handle feed and water for a week after they arrive. after that i am just not going to take the risk until AI has run its course and gone. this coming shipment will get me where i can breed more of everything i have but standard buff brahma myself... i really hope ai fizzles out though.

 

[Nolly]

I doubt that I have the room to really quarantine the new birds. They would have to be in the house, and since they are already older, it would be hard to give them a fair amount of space for the quarantine time.
It's looking more like I'll have to take a calculated risk as long as they are still in good health when it's time to pick them up. They'll a only have to travel 10 minutes, so hopefully that won't be too bad for them.
I'll continue to see if there is a way to keep them better separated.
Thank you all so far for your input.

 

[Tonia K]

Yeah another South Dakotan here! I have 6 (all different lg breed) laying hens.They are 21 weeks (not yet laying). Someone in my community was wanting to give away a roo because she thought she had all hens.Time was of the essence to get him as she was preparing to leave town. I had no time to research anything as far as how to acclimate him etc. I took him (an Americauna) to help protect my flock who free range during the day. He is about the same age give or take a week or two. I am an amateur at this so I asked the advice of how to best integrate him. I was told to just put him with the girls and they'd figure it all out. Today is day 3. The girls avoid him at all costs.The day are getting shorter and i have not yet addressed the lighting issue or lack there of in their coop, they have began molting and now this new guy is around. LOL! Is all this too much stress on them. Will it cause a delay in laying? And have been reading horror stories of how mean roosters can be and that I should quarantine him for 30 days. First of all if it matters all the birds in our county were tested by the State of SD Vets due to a Avian influenza outbreak nearby. Secondly, what do people use to put their birds in to quarantine? A whole separate coop? A large dog crate? I assume if I need to quarantine that they then cannot free range together? Won't this cause HIM stress? Lots of questions! PLEASE advise!

 

[Den in Penn]

It will take time for the girls to accept him no doubt about it. As to whether it will cause them to delay because of stress, who knows. at that age no one really can say when they will start, except soon. If they have been together for three days then quarantine is pointless, the exposure has already happened. Prole use whatever they can to house the birds for quarantine. A true quarantine needs to be a complete separation, no mixing at all. Some times stress can't be avoided quarantine is one of those times. The point is to have healthy birds, So it is acceptable to stress them a little for that health.

Yeah another South Dakotan here! I have 6 (all different lg breed) laying hens.They are 21 weeks (not yet laying). Someone in my community was wanting to give away a roo because she thought she had all hens.Time was of the essence to get him as she was preparing to leave town. I had no time to research anything as far as how to acclimate him etc. I took him (an Americauna) to help protect my flock who free range during the day. He is about the same age give or take a week or two. I am an amateur at this so I asked the advice of how to best integrate him. I was told to just put him with the girls and they'd figure it all out. Today is day 3. The girls avoid him at all costs.The day are getting shorter and i have not yet addressed the lighting issue or lack there of in their coop, they have began molting and now this new guy is around. LOL! Is all this too much stress on them. Will it cause a delay in laying? And have been reading horror stories of how mean roosters can be and that I should quarantine him for 30 days. First of all if it matters all the birds in our county were tested by the State of SD Vets due to a Avian influenza outbreak nearby. Secondly, what do people use to put their birds in to quarantine? A whole separate coop? A large dog crate? I assume if I need to quarantine that they then cannot free range together? Won't this cause HIM stress? Lots of questions! PLEASE advise!